FREELANCE JOURNALIST

Matt Harvey

Matt Harvey is trying to work his way back up the Superhero mountain. Just three years ago he was the Dark Knight, lauded as a bulldog; a flame-throwing ace and the King of Queens. But since his final pitch in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series, Harvey has tumbled off the crag with results more comparable to the The Riddler and The Joker.

Matt Harveyhaswon games that, maybe, he shouldn’t have. He’s lost games he should have won. His fastball is not as overwhelming as it once was and his control is excellent, then a few innings later poor. He walked five batters on Sunday and allowed multiple home runs in four of his 16 starts.

On May 1, Harvey pitched seven shutout innings against the Washington Nationals and improved his season record to 5-0. Over his first eight starts Harvey’s ERA was under two (1.98 ERA), striking out more than one batter an inning (56 K’s in 54.2 IP).